When the two heard the signal, they rushed at one another, clashing swords. Realizing neither of them could get the upper hand, they both backed off. Harkel rushed back in, swinging his sword at Jordan multiple times, but Jordan parried them all. Then he returned with swings of his own, which Harkel dodged before kicking Jordan in the side. Jordan caught the kick, then delivered an uppercut that sent Harkel flying back—but Harkel recovered midair.
Shaking his head, he got back into his fighting stance. Jordan mirrored him. Then Jordan dashed in low, trying to slice Harkel's legs, but Harkel jumped and kicked Jordan in the head with the bottom of his shoe. Jordan hit the ground, but quickly got back up, and both of them rushed in again.
"How is this even possible?" a student asked. "Wasn't Harkel at the bottom of the top five while Jordan was at the top? How is he keeping up and even landing hits?"
"It's for two reasons," Wren butted in. "We never got to see Harkel's true power during the assessment since he was taken out so fast thanks to Luka's Nature Evolution. And two, Harkel's gotten stronger these past few days."
Most didn't believe that second part. It had only been a few days since the assessment. But both Wren and Jordan knew Harkel's stats went up after gaining three levels, which helped him improve dramatically. He had awakened last night—putting him on a similar level to Jordan.
The two kept clashing swords until they realized neither was giving an opening. They both backflipped away and dropped their swords, then launched into hand-to-hand combat. This is where a difference appeared—Jordan went for a jab, but Harkel ducked, turned, and kicked him in the stomach. As he did, the teacher stepped in.
"This is a weapons class, not hand-to-hand combat! Both of you—pick up your weapons. If one of you drops it again, that person loses."
Panting and smiling at each other, both boys returned to their corners and picked up their swords. Mr. Knox told them to begin once again, and the two clashed swords, the sound ringing through the room.
"I knew Jordan was strong—especially after Riven told us he naturally awakened—but Harkel isn't a pushover either," Wren thought to herself. "I wonder how powerful Joey is, since he awakened too—and his Evolution is on a whole different tier than most of ours."
Mr. Knox could see her thinking, and it made him wonder too.
"When did first-years learn how to awaken so fast?" Knox thought. "Both she and Harkel give off the aura of freshly awakened students, and Damien already told us about Jordan's awakening during the exam. So how many more students have the potential—or have already awakened?"
Harkel punched Jordan in the stomach, knocking the air from his lungs. Seizing the moment, Harkel prepared to slice Jordan's leg—aiming for a win. But before he could, ink burst out of Jordan's pocket and blasted Harkel away. Knox saw the orb glow and was about to call the match—until he felt a gust of wind blow past. Harkel, still mid-air, had released an air blast from his palm.
Jordan dodged as everyone watched the air blast leave a massive dent in the platform.
"How is that even possible?!" a student gasped. "That platform's reinforced with Zarynthium!"
Zarynthium—third strongest metal in existence—yet Harkel had made it look like a car door struck by a rubber ball.
As Harkel hit the ground, he gathered air into his palm. Jordan mirrored him, pulling out another vial of ink. They both released their attacks, but just before the beams collided, a blue, translucent barrier appeared. Both blasts struck the barrier, cracking it.
They could've pushed more power into it—but finally came to their senses and stopped. As the barrier faded, they saw Mr. Knox: first shocked, then furious.
He rushed them and slammed his fists into their chests. Even though they blocked, they were knocked back into the wall.
"Both of you—go to the vice principal. Now!" Mr. Knox barked.
"I'm sorry, sir, but you just hit them with a serious blow. They probably won't be able to walk there themselves," a student pointed out.
"No. If what I think is true, they should be able to take that attack without issue. Now go."
As the two boys got up, another student stepped forward—it was the vice principal's daughter.
"I can take them. They don't know where the office is."
Knox nodded, allowing her to lead them. As they walked, they could still hear Knox calling out more names.
"What is wrong with you two?" Wren snapped.
"Two? Jordan started it!" Harkel defended himself .
"Yeah, sorry about that. Some people just got me angrier than I thought. And once we started, we were on equal ground. I forgot all about the rules," Jordan admitted with a chuckle.
"Idiots… What are we going to tell my mom?" Wren sighed, clearly stressed.
"Or… we don't have to go at all," Harkel suggested with a grin.
"No. Mr. Knox probably has some way of confirming if we went or not. We could get in even more trouble," Jordan said.
"Well, we wouldn't be in trouble if somebody knew how to keep it in their pants," Harkel muttered, referring to Jordan.
"Hey, you know you used your Evolution too—"
"Both of you, stop," Wren cut in. "We're lucky neither of you used your secondary Evolutions."
That last part she said quietly—no one else was meant to hear it.
"So that's what we're calling it now?" Harkel smirked.
"I like it," Jordan grinned.
"Of course you do," Wren muttered.
The three arrived at the vice principal's office. After knocking, a woman told them to come in. Harkel and Jordan took the seats in front of the desk, while Wren tried to walk away—only to be called back in. She sat down in a seat in the corner.
"So, one of you want to tell me what happened?" Vice Principal Fallow asked.
Jordan began explaining and took most of the blame, but Harkel stepped in to share some of it—he didn't want Jordan taking it all alone.
"Okay… truthfully, I'm not going to punish you. You both clearly feel guilty, and there's no grudge between you. Honestly, it sounds more like a friendly spar."
Everyone nodded, confirming her take was accurate.
"But here's what has me curious," she said, turning to look at her daughter, then at Harkel. "Both of you recently awakened. And while walking through the halls, I saw the other two boys you hang out with—they also seem newly awakened. Now that's strange, because students shouldn't be awakening in their first year. Most don't until second year—some even third. But you all awakened in days. That's unheard of."
"Awakening?" Harkel blinked. "I thought I just smelled bad. That's why everyone was staring."
He played dumb—since most people already thought he wasn't very smart.
"Hm." Vice Principal Fallow gave a long look, then turned to Wren. "I know you're not as dumb as blue-hair over here."
"Ouch," Harkel muttered.
"So… tell me. How did you awaken?" she asked, staring directly into her daughter's eyes.
Before Wren could speak, her phone rang.
"What is it?" Ms. Fallow said, sounding visibly annoyed. Her expression shifted into shock as she listened.
"You're dismissed for the day," she finally said. "Go back to your dorms. The day's nearly over anyway."
As they walked out of the office, Wren immediately spoke.
"Hey—text your brother. Tell him to meet us at my training spot and bring Joey. I'll get Tessa."
Jordan nodded and began texting.
"Anyone wondering what that phone call was about?" Harkel asked.
"Doesn't matter," Wren replied. "It got us out of that mess."
⸻
Back in the vice principal's office…
"Are you sure?" Damien asked.
"For the thousandth time—yes," Ms. Fallow replied.
" he probably came because he saw how far we have fallen behind the others?" Axel chimed in.
"Yeah… now the real question is: what's he going to do when he gets here?" Damien added.
In Wren's personal training room, Jordan explained to the rest of the group what had happened.
"Well, it's a good thing you guys didn't fall under pressure—'cause I know I would've," Joey said, rubbing the back of his head.
"Yeah, same," Tessa added.
"I'm glad she didn't find out anything," riven said, "but truthfully, I'm more worried about that phone call. Wren… you said your mother had two Evolutions? Or maybe even more she's not telling you about. So who could have a dual Evolver shocked like that? It must be somebody powerful," Riven said.
Wren wanted to argue—say her mom wouldn't keep something like that from her—but even she didn't believe that herself.
"I also feel like we should add more people to our group," Jordan said.
"What? Why?" Riven replied. "Six is a good number. Plus, if we add more people, there's a bigger risk they'll tell others."
"Yes—but they could also be really helpful. How about this: instead of making them bonded members, we make them regular party members. They can just train here with us. They won't know about our new Evolutions yet—or maybe not ever.."
"I don't know," Riven said cautiously.
"I do know one thing," Jordan continued. "By the way that woman looked—something is about to change. For better… or for worse."